


funny girl

by WattStalf



Series: Problematic OTP [21]
Category: Watchmen - All Media Types
Genre: Eddie is the only one genderbent, Edie is underage, F/F, Homophobic Language, Masturbation, Rape, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-14
Updated: 2016-01-14
Packaged: 2018-05-13 20:49:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5716621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WattStalf/pseuds/WattStalf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Edie hated Sally Jupiter, and that hatred manifested itself in a way she had never felt before, a way that consumed her until she knew that it was not hate driving her, but desire. And she knew that she had to have her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	funny girl

**Author's Note:**

> A stupid and generic title because I like musicals and that one is totally irrelevant to anything in this story, but hey. A female Comedian would think herself a funny girl, right? Anyway, just exploring the dynamic if Eddie had instead been an angry lesbian, and it got out of hand. I am so sorry for this.

It wasn't easy for a girl her age to make it on her own, especially not in a city like New York, but damned if Edith Blake didn't make it work. To say she was different from the other girls her age would be an understatement; just the fact that she was sixteen and already on her own said enough, but that was not all there was to it.

She had none of the social graces that were expected of her and instead had a fiery temper and odd sense of humor and masculine bearing that had always made her stand out amongst the other girls. Edie was aggressive and she liked to pick fights with boys and she liked to win even more, and when she got fed up with the arguments this caused between her and her parents, she ran away.

And then she discovered a new way to take out her frustrations, a way to pick all the fights she wanted without trouble and a way to be praised if she won. The trend of costumed adventuring was in full-swing, and she threw herself into it, donning a loud costume and calling herself the Comedian.

Because she was funny, and she knew she was even if nobody else knew it. It wasn't her fault that they didn't get the joke, that they didn't see the humor in a girl too tough and too clever for anyone to handle. And if they didn't like the joke, well, that was their problem.

~X~

When she saw the ad in the paper, calling for costumed crime fighters to come together and form a team, she was apprehensive. She was a loner for a reason, and she doubted a group would be any good for her, so it seemed in her best interest to avoid them. But then she thought about it again, and then she started to consider it, and before she knew it, she had decided to go.

She didn't know if it was just the fact that she would be able to get more information on whose ass to kick if she were on a team or if it was something as simple as the promise of fame, but something convinced her to at least try, and so she did. With a track record like hers, she was sure to be accepted, and that didn't prove to be the problem.

The problem, instead, was Silk Spectre. Sally Jupiter was a model, or she was trying to be, and this was what she considered her ticket to fame. She wasn't a hero for any reasons Edie could admire, but Edie could hardly admire her own reasons, and it was not judgment that caused her immediate dislike of Sally.

It was how goddamn pretty she was, and how sweet her smile was, and how she treated everyone like she was so happy to see them, but in such a way that you just knew she thought she was doing you a favor. She was nice, but it was only on the surface, and people still loved her for it, and she was Edie's opposite in every way except for the fact that she suspected Sally was just as selfish as she was.

“I'm sure you're going to love being a part of the Minutemen, Edie,” said Sally, with that fake, gorgeous smile of hers. “And it'll be nice to have another girl around, too.”

“Yeah, whatever,” she grumbled, but smirked just a little bit once she had turned around. She wasn't much of a lady, and Sally would soon find out that she wasn't much like having another girl around at all.

~X~

Another woman was recruited anyway, a woman called the Silhouette who was no more like Sally than Edie, but who was pretty different from Edie too. She was not dainty or kind, and could actually be a bit rude when she had the mind to, but there was an elegance to her that Edie could would never even dream of achieving. Not that she would want to anyway.

The whole team was an odd fit like that, but it was no secret that Edie was the real odd one out. She was so damn young compared to the rest of them, and didn't care what she said or how she said it, and was always laughing during meetings, even when no one else saw what was so funny.

And every now and then, Sally's nosy ass manager Larry would say something to her, about how she needed to be more ladylike, help preserve the image of the team. A crude joke would almost always follow and he would try to argue with her until he finally threw his hands up in frustration and stormed off. And sometimes Sally would be with him and she would watch him go with a giggle and flash Edie that fucking smile of hers, and Edie would hate her even more.

Why her eyes followed her whenever she left, clinging to her until she was out of sight, Edie didn't know, but that just fueled the hatred and fueled her temper. She didn't like Sally, and she especially didn't like whatever it was about her that made her so damn interesting.

Just because she was some pretty little thing in a short skirt and all the guys drooled over her...she groaned, and clenched her fists, and sometimes she even punched a wall if she got mad enough. And she got mad enough a lot when she thought about Sally and her stupid low-cut dress and stupid fishnet stockings and stupid perfect figure and stupid perfect everything.

~X~

Nite Owl had a crush on Sally. Everyone did, or at least it seemed like they did- there were teammates that Edie had her suspicions about, teammates that might not even be into women- but Nite Owl was much more obvious about it. He blushed like a schoolboy whenever she looked his way and held open doors for her even if he had to charge ahead of everyone to do so.

He adored Sally so openly, so pathetically, and seemed blind to just how wrong he was about her. She was not a doll in need of protection from a boy scout like Nite Owl. Edie could see that, and she was sure she was not the only one. Sally was tough and she may have been pretty but she was not delicate, and she thrived off the attention that she received.

And just how far she let that attention go, Edie was not sure, but she had her suspicions that Sally was far from innocent. She wasn't exactly jealous but she was, even though she didn't give a damn if the boys looked at her like that or not. Yet she still got so damn mad when she thought about that, or thought about how stupid Nite Owl was to think he had a chance with Sally, and the list of things that made her inexplicably angry just kept growing.

But, as was becoming a trend lately, Sally was at the center of it all. God, she hated her, even though she wanted to just not care about her in the slightest. So what if she was a cheap floozy masquerading as a star? It didn't affect Edie either way.

~X~

Another thing about Nite Owl was how obvious it was that he didn't like Edie, but how he tried so hard to hide it. He tried to talk to her like she was delicate too, and he may not have doted on her like he did Sally, but he did treat her as if she were fragile and could not hold her own, and was a lady that needed protection.

Worse than him with Dollar Bill, the bank-mascot-turned-real-hero, the patriot, the all-American boy who darn well just wanted to do the right thing. Of course he embraced chivalry, of course he wanted to rescue Sally and the Silhouette and Edie just as much as the next guy, but Sally had Nite Owl and sometimes Hooded Justice, oddly enough, and Silhouette would just as soon kick Bill as she would a criminal if he got in her way, which meant that he focused on Edie.

And Edie would just as soon bash his brains in, but Bill was tougher than her, as much as she hated to admit it, and she wouldn't pick a fight with him. She couldn't stand the humiliation of losing, so instead she just lashed out with words and called him names and made degrading comments about his costume and how it reflected on his sexuality.

And then he would feed her the same shit that Larry did, about how she needed to be more ladylike, and how ladies didn't talk like that, and then she'd get so worked up she'd have to stop herself from picking the fight she knew she couldn't win. So what if she wasn't 'ladylike'?

She had never been a lady and she never would be, and it wasn't like it was her fault that she was born the way she was. It had always been this way; she hadn't chose it, just embraced it. If he wanted a damn lady, he could drool over Sally Jupiter, just like the rest of them.

~X~

But, Christ almighty, did she hate being on a team with that bitch. She hated being paired up with her for patrol, she hated the way men who passed them looked Sally over and stared and gawked and did not notice she was with somebody else. Not that she wanted to be gawked at, but couldn't they at least have the decency not to do it so publicly? While she was watching?

“Buncha creeps,” she muttered.

“Oh, Edie, lighten up,” replied Sally with an easy laugh, because she and Captain Metropolis, being founding members, knew most everyone's identities.

“I don't need to lighten up,” she snapped, and she didn't, she was the Comedian. It was everyone else who needed to lighten up.

“Sure you do, you're always so on edge,” Sally teased. “You lose your temper at the drop of a hat, and you'll wrinkle early if you don't smile more.”

“I smile plenty! I'm the goddamn Comedian, and I don't give a damn about beauty besides,” she said, clenching her fists and scowling.

“See, just like that!” She laughed, unfazed by Edie's aggression. “And I'd tell you to watch your language on top of it, but that would make me a hypocrite, wouldn't it?” She winked, and Edie's face burned- from rage, she was sure- and she looked away.

~X~

She didn't care if boys liked her, she didn't give a damn if the eyes of men passed over her, and she wasn't mad that she didn't get that sort of attention. In fact, she liked that she didn't, she didn't need it, she didn't want it.

But then she did get that attention, for whatever reason. She began to notice the eyes on her, found herself trapped in the same empty conversation with the same man, and she knew, she just knew, that this was happening to her now. Why he had chosen her over Sally, or even the Silhouette, or any no-name girl he could have met on the streets, she did not know.

Mothman was a peculiar man, with his wings and his worldview, but he was also a coward and Edie had despised him instantly. Always walking on eggshells around the others to avoid conflict, starting to argue when he disagreed only to back down at the last second, and a nervous wreck whenever any of the real action started. She hated him almost as much as she hated Sally, but in a different way.

He did not feel the same way about her, but damned if she knew why. A case of opposites attract gone poorly, she was sure, but he was a fucking idiot if he thought she was going to give a wimp like him the time of day. He would try to make small talk with her, and she would brush him off, and he would back off for a few days only to try again, somehow not managing to grasp the fact that she wasn't interested.

“So, uh, how old are you really?” he asked her one day, because he was running out of questions like she was running out of patience.

“Too young for you, bug boy,” she grumbled in response, and she was sure it was true. They were all adults, and she had, for a brief second, barely made the cut due to her age alone. Larry had insisted that sixteen was too young and Metropolis had nearly agreed; strangely enough, it had been Sally who had plead Edie's case and the men had taken no work to convince once she had batted her lashes.

“I...uh...” He blushed under his mask and then Sally's infuriatingly pretty laugh echoed through the room.

“Poor Byron, getting your heart broken by little Edie here,” she teased. It was annoying how she would casually throw everyone's names around, as if they weren't trying to protect their identities, as if they all cared as little as she did.

“Sally!” he protested, his face reddening all the more. He turned to Edie, stammering, “I wasn't...uh, I didn't mean anything like...”

Edie snorted and rolled her eyes. “'Course ya didn't.” Once again, Sally laughed and Edie tensed, gritting her teeth. It was too much for her, and she knew if she stayed in the room any longer, she would punch the girl or...or...

She walked out without another word.

~X~

Where had that last thought come from? She would punch the girl or she would kiss her? Where the ever loving fuck had that thought come from? She was thinking about a _girl_ , for Christ's sake, about _Sally_ , and she had never thought about a boy that way, but she sure as hell would never think about a girl that way. Hell, she didn't even know if that was possible.

She knew about the men who wanted other men, the faggots, but she hadn't before heard of a woman with another woman. It made sense that that could happen too, but not her. It couldn't be her, and not with Sally, of all women, but there had been that impulse to kiss her and there had been something else.

A dull ache between her legs, a heat that made her fidget and squirm, and what was worse was that this was not the first time she had felt this irritation around Sally. It was common, it was frequent, it was every time they were together, practically, and it fueled her irritation just as much as anything else did. It was only now that she finally saw it for what it was.

She was alone in the trophy room, and she leaned back against a wall, groaning and squeezing her thighs together, trying to convince herself that she was wrong when she knew she wasn't. A low hiss escaped and she couldn't resist anymore, she undid her belt and slid her hand down beneath her clothing, between her legs.

Edie bit her lip, and Sally's face was in her mind and she didn't bother trying to banish it this time, feeling the damp heat that had settled there. She hadn't felt arousal like this, not before she had joined the Minutemen, but she had never even seen it as that, had always assumed it was another symptom of her anger. Now she was fucking touching herself in the trophy room, thinking about Sally goddamn Jupiter.

She let out a deep moan, rubbing herself, not quite sure how to even do this. It hadn't exactly been necessary in the past, and she didn't really know the tricks. But then she slipped a finger in and it felt  _good_ , and she arched her back against the wall with another moan, this one much louder. She bit down hard on her lip to silence herself, because she would have a hell of a time explaining herself if she got caught.

It felt good, but it did not feel good enough, and she felt like there was something that she was just barely missing, something she was trying to reach for that was just barely escaping her grasp, and she growled, working another finger in, trying to reach all the higher. She was aching, desperate, but for what she did not know; maybe Sally doing this to her? But that didn't sound right, didn't feel right.

What she really wanted was Sally pinned down and flushed and squirming and just as desperate as she was now, biting her pretty little lip, bright blue eyes darkened with lust, red hair losing its curls, damp with sweat. Edie hated those bright blue eyes because her own eyes were dull, gray-blue, and she hated how damn beautiful her hair was, a red that shouldn't be natural while Edie was stuck with plain brown.

But she didn't care about beauty. What she cared about was Sally, moaning beneath her, aching for Edie like Edie had ached for her, hurting and begging and finally facing the frustration she had given so freely. She cared about engulfing her lips in a heated kiss and she cared about trailing her lips down her night and biting, hard, and living marks on her otherwise perfectly unmarred skin. And she cared about a hand between Sally's legs and a hand between her own, she cared about being perfectly in control of whatever the hell was going on between them for once.

These were the images that finally gave her whatever push she needed to finally reach, and her knees went weak and she had to lean against the wall even more for further support, she had to bite down so hard on the inside of her cheek to avoid calling out that she drew blood. It was blindingly euphoric, and the image of Sally bled away into white nothing, and Edie knew that she was fucked, but in that moment, she honestly couldn't care.

And then the nothing had faded and the sensation was dulling, and she was back in the trophy room, by herself, leaning against the wall, her own hair damp with sweat and her hand downright soaked. She wiped it on her pant leg and fastened her belt again, and she did not feel different anymore. Whatever she had reached was gone now, as if it had never been there in the first place, and once again, she was only angry, and once again, she hated Sally all the more.

~X~

Though she did not know what her discovery meant for them yet, it was not long after it was made that it was then made useless. Sally was soon hanging off of Hooded Justice, giggling over him and fawning over him, and Edie had always figured HJ for one of the ones who was not pining for Sally. But she hadn't figured herself for one of the ones who _was_ , so maybe she didn't know as much as she thought she did.

But still, she had had her suspicions about HJ that did not line up with him pursuing a romance with Sally, the same suspicions that she had about Captain Metropolis, and there had been a tension in the air when the two were near each other now, one that she didn't know if anyone else had picked up on. She didn't think that she was wrong about them, but then why was he with Sally now?

And of course Nite Owl was anguished about it, and it was painfully obvious, though he tried not to show it, and Edie had to resist telling him that he didn't have the right to be disappointed when Sally had never been his to begin with. She doubted that he stayed up at night with a fire in his core that he couldn't extinguish, with Sally's face haunting him while he struggled to get it over with as quickly as possible so that he could get some sleep, knowing that it would never really be enough.

Because once she had done it, she couldn't stop. Once she had discovered the truth behind her arousal, once she had found her temporary, insufficient cure, she needed it, more and more each time. She was never really satisfied, but anything was better than constantly burning. It was the only thing she could do, but she was sure that Nite Owl had no idea what it was like to be that tortured over Sally.

~X~

Sally giggled and Edie rolled her eyes, even though no one could see her do it. The meeting was just wrapping up and she could make her way home and try to forget Sally's laugh, but she knew she wouldn't be able to and she would be so consumed that her hand would be between her legs before her door had completely closed. Even knowing that that laugh was meant for HJ, that she was teasing him about something that Edie hadn't even thought was particularly funny, it would still haunt her just the same.

“Really, HJ, you're too much!” she cooed, and again Edie rolled her eyes. The funny thing was, Sally was usually lax about calling the others by their names, but she didn't with Hooded Justice, despite the fact that she was supposed to be closer to him than anyone else.

He only gave a slight noise of acknowledgment, and then Metropolis declared the meeting over, looking a bit uncomfortable, and everyone began to filter out. Edie watched as they left, unable to resist hanging back because Sally was taking her time, and she wanted to watch her leave. But Sally lingered so long that she knew she couldn't wait anymore or it would look weird, so she started on her way.

“Can you believe it?” Sally called after her, stopping her.

“Believe what?” she asked, turning back around. She clenched one of her fists, not sure where to look. No matter where she focused her attention, she found something about Sally that started those feelings back up, and she settled on looking somewhere off to the side.

“Him,” she replied vaguely, and Edie still did not know what she was referring to. “Oh, c'mon, you can't tell me you haven't noticed! HJ's trying, but he's so bad at pretending like this. It probably would have been better if Larry had stuck me with Nelson. At least _he_ might have known how to act.”

“The hell are you talkin' about?” asked Edie, though she was starting to figure it out.

“Well, Larry didn't want anyone to start asking questions about him or Nelson, and he thought if I was dating HJ, that would look better. But he's just so damn _bad_ at it,” she said, and she laughed, and this one was just for Edie and it burned her even more.

“So you're not really with him?” she asked. “S'all just an act?”

“Pretty much,” said Sally with a shrug. “I guess if it's for the good of the team's image, I don't mind, but it'd be nice to get to date whoever I wanted.” She shook her head, grinning. “What about you, Edie? Any boys caught your eye?”

“Hell no!” she snapped, a bit too quickly, but Sally likely wouldn't guess the meaning behind her disgust.

“What about Byron?” she teased. “He's positively dying for you to spare him some attention, you know.”

“'Course I know it. Doesn't mean he's gonna get it.”

And there was that stupid, intoxicating laugh again. “You're too much, Edie. Trust me, it won't be long before you find someone you're interested in, and then you won't be able to stop thinking about him. You'll be positively infatuated!”

Edie didn't tell her that she'd already found that someone and that she already was.

~X~

At some point, her breasts began to ache each night and she had to find the trick to easing that pain too. It was awkward at first, or, more awkward that the uncomfortable rhythm she had already found, and she tried groping at herself, but that didn't work. She tried laying face down, grinding herself against her mattress, but that didn't work either. It took her a while, longer than it should have, to discover nipples and how to tease and pinch at them to dull the ache.

She wondered if Sally's breasts would ache like that too, and she wondered what they would taste like, what they would feel like in her mouth. She imagined her tongue rolling over them, taking Sally's breath away, taking her in and keeping her. Her back would arch just as Edie's did and she would whine and writhe. She would be the one in need.

~X~

Edie began patrolling with the Silhouette regularly, as Metropolis had decided to try giving them consistent partners and seeing how that worked out. She thought it was a bit too obvious that he had assigned himself HJ, but that was their problem. Silhouette let Edie call her Ursula when they were alone, which Edie supposed meant she didn't dislike her, and that was a rarity from the older woman.

Sometimes Sally would make remarks when she saw the two of them going out to patrol, saying things like, “A cute girl like Edie, all alone with you? Hope you can control yourself, Ursula,” or, “You better watch yourself around her, Edie.” She would always giggle like it was in good fun, but Ursula would give her a dark glare and otherwise not respond.

One night, Edie asked her, “So, what's all that shit about?”

“Sally talks too much,” she replied. “And she likes to act like she knows everything, even when she doesn't.”

“Yeah, she's annoying as hell,” Edie grumbled, even though she really didn't like anyone talking shit about Sally but her. “But what's she talkin' about?”

“You would know,” Ursula replied coolly. “I'm just surprised she doesn't have you figured out yet.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!”

“I can tell, you know. And Sally may not realize yet and may think I'm the only one like this, but I can tell the way you look at her. You don't complain about her because you don't like her,” she said. “I know how you really feel about her.”

“Like hell you do! Anyone could tell I fuckin' hate her,” she argued, but she couldn't meet Ursula's eye.

“I know how to spot another woman who likes other women,” she said simply. “How else do you think I'm able to find a lover living like this? It's likely that no one else suspects, but I remember what it was like trying to hide it and I know you're trying.”

“That's bullshit. That's bullshit, okay, I'm not!”

“And what would be so wrong with it if you were? You know that I am. You're not my type, mind you, and neither is your little Sally, but you at least know you're not the only one,” said Ursula, and there was something in her voice that was almost like kindness, something that Edie had never seen in her.

She didn't know if it was because seeing that in Ursula was so rare and so shocking, or if it was just the fact that she was young and she had never really talked to anyone and had never thought there would be anyone she could talk to about this, but she found herself opening up about it. “What am I supposed to do? About her?”

“There's nothing you can do about someone like Sally,” she replied. “I highly doubt she'd even consider trying something like that. The best you can do is find a distraction. I could introduce you to a few young women, if you'd like.”

Ursula went on, telling Edie a few stories about experiences she had had, and told her about what it was like to want someone she had no chance with. For days after that, she would talk to her on patrol, advising her on how to deal with this, and reassuring her that it was all fine, and that there was nothing wrong with her.

But that was not the part that Edie really listened to. All she could hear was that she could not have Sally, but she did not know how she would cure herself from the desires that consumed her if she didn't, and knowing that she couldn't have her only made her want her more.

~X~

“You're actually pretty, you know that?” She wasn't sure what had prompted Sally to say that, but she had.

“I don't...care about any of that stuff,” she muttered.

“I'm just saying, if you actually tried, you'd have a boyfriend in no time. I could help you, if you wanted.”

“I don't need help with anything, and I sure as hell don't need a boyfriend,” Edie snapped.

“Come on, it'd be fun! I have an older sister, but I've never had a younger one before,” Sally pleaded.

“I said no!” she snarled, and Sally backed up, surprised, even a little scared.

“I didn't...mean anything by it...” she said, hurt.

“Yeah, well,” said Edie, not sure what she was trying to say. “Good.” And then she turned and walked away, not looking back.

~X~

A professional photo seemed a bit grandiose, but Nite Owl and Metropolis and Larry had all agreed on it, and the team had posed for it for what felt like ages before it took and they could finally move again. Everyone began to disperse, doing their own thing, and Edie, against her better judgment, followed close behind Sally, who was clinging to HJ and rambling on about something or other.

Ursula made a jab at Sally and Sally got irritated, but Edie didn't pay attention to what they were talking about. She just kept staring at Sally, hanging off of HJ's arm, and she wanted it to be her arm. It wasn't fair that she had to watch like this, that she had to keep quiet and never, ever get what she wanted out of this. Sally Jupiter got everything she wanted and Edie got nothing, and she hated it.

And then Sally said she was going to go change, and Edie tensed, feeling that damned heat pool between her legs once more, ferocious this time, impossible to ignore. Just inside the trophy room, Sally would be alone and exposed. Hers for the taking. Maybe, if she just had a chance to explain herself, Sally would not resist. Sally would understand.

She followed her, opening the door and staring, her breath catching in her throat as she watched Sally undress. She was every bit as beautiful as Edie had imagined and she stepped further into the room. “Hi,” she said.

“Edie?” Sally whirled around, making little attempt to cover herself. After all, it was just the girls, right? “What are you doing?”

In a few short strides, Edie had crossed the room, closed the distance between them. “I wanted to talk to you,” she said, and she was standing too close and Sally looked uncomfortable and confused.

“Couldn't it have waited until later?” she asked.

“No. No, it couldn't. I know...” Her voice cracked; was she nervous? She couldn't tell if that was what was making her heart pound like this, or if it was arousal, or adrenaline, or all three. “I know you see the way I look at ya. I know you know I need you.” She placed her hands on Sally's shoulders, trying to pull her closer.

Sally pulled back. “Edie, what the hell are you talking about? You're starting to scare me, you're acting like...”

“I'm not acting, baby,” she said. “I need you, I...I think I love you.”

“You're disgusting!” Sally cried. “I'd expect something like this from Ursula, but you, I thought...I thought we were...”

“You thought what?” Anger flared up in Edie. “Ya never treated me much like a friend, so that can't be what you're talkin' about. Ya never treated me like anything but a kid sister you could blow off whenever you were bored. But I'm not you're kid sister, and...I don't give a damn if ya think I'm disgusting.”

“Well, you are and this is wrong! If you don't stop right now, I'm gonna tell everyone!”

“Tell 'em,” she said. “Fucking tell 'em, but you're gonna have to do it later, because I've been waitin' so goddamn long for this, and I'm not letting you go.” She had Sally in her grasp again, and she was stronger than her, and Sally tried to pull away again but Edie would not give her any leeway.

“Just gimme a chance,” she pleaded. “I promise it won't be bad, but I just gotta have you, Sal, I can't wait anymore.” She kissed her then, hot and needy, and ignored that Sally did not kiss back, that she continued to struggle, that she tried to bite Edie's tongue.

She forced her to the ground then, pinned her and tried to reassure her. “It'll be real good I promise, I know what I'm doin'.” She didn't, not with another person, but she had spent so much time exploring her own body that she was sure she would know what to do here.

Sally spat in her face, and Edie slapped her, hard. She was angry again; the kiss had calmed her down, but her temper flared up again, and slapping Sally didn't ease this, only egged her on. “I said it would be good, you bitch!” she snarled. “Just hold still and lemme prove it to ya, or I'll have to make this ugly!”

She hated Sally. She had hated Sally from the moment she had met her, and she had hated Sally when she realized the effect she had on her, and she hated Sally now, making her love her and rejecting her all at once, making her need her more but denying her access. She hated Sally so goddamn much, and this time, she did not slap her. Edie went with her fist instead.

She heard a crunch and Sally's nose started to bleed, and she reared her fist back again, this time connecting it with her jaw. Again and again, she punched her, alternating her fists between blows, she watched Sally's perfect, pretty face turn ugly and bloody, and she was almost more beautiful this way, simply because she was ugly. No one else but Edie could want her like this, and she wanted her even more than before.

She grabbed one of Sally's breasts, squeezing at it greedily, and she let out a low moan of appreciation. This was it; she finally had her. It had not gone the way she wanted at all, but that was okay because she had her, and Sally would understand when it was over. She would have to.

“What are you _doing_?!”

Edie's head snapped around to see Ursula standing in the doorway, a look of surprised anger on her face. Before Edie could make her excuses, Ursula had run to her, pulling her off of Sally by her hair. She the flung Edie against a wall, closing in on her and looking down, enraged.

“Just what the hell do you think you're doing to her?” she asked, barely managing to keep her voice level.

“You know how bad I wanted her, you know how hard it is,” Edie protested. “I just wanted to show her-”

“What could you show her, doing something like that?” Ursula asked coldly. “And don't compare me to you, Edith. I would never do something that terrible to anyone, much less a woman I wanted.”

“But I just-”

“It's unforgivable,” she interrupted. “Absolutely unforgivable, and I don't want to see you come near Sally again.” When Edie opened her mouth to argue again, Ursula shook her head, silencing her. “Leave, before I do worse to you.”

Standing up slowly, Edie trudged out of the room, and Ursula watched her carefully as she did, looking ready to strike if Edie made one step out of line. But she didn't, and she left the trophy room, letting the door close behind her.

Before she started down the hallway, she heard Ursula say, not without a hint of disgust, “At least get dressed, and maybe next time you'll think not to run around half-naked.”

~X~

The others didn't know for sure why Edie quit the Minutemen without a word, or why Sally looked the way she did, but everyone was certain that those two things were connected.


End file.
